Waste of taste: consumers admit lunch is ‘means to an end’ to refuel body.

LEEDS, ENGLAND, May 25, 2012 — A campaign has been launched to encourage consumers to take the time to taste their food after scientific research showed that 79% of people were unable to identify even basic sandwiches and just 28% of a national poll admitted to savouring their food. Busy, stressed workers are being encouraged to reawaken their taste buds by a leading psychologist after 60% of the population admitted to ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ tasting what they ate – 1,000 people were polled. The majority (42%) of British workers admitted to eating at their place of work most days with just 13% leaving their place of work for lunch – almost half (44%) described their lunch as ‘a means to an end’ to refuel their body.

Incredibly, with Britain a multicultural melting pot of global cuisine, awareness levels around food nutrition and healthy eating never higher, and the widest range of great tasting food and flavours at the public’s finger tips, it seems the ability to actually taste food is under threat.

Food brand GLORIOUS! has launched the Flavour Map – a global, online, crowdsourced resource – to inspire as well as re-educate consumers about flavour and taste, as well as unearthing little-known global flavours to launch for the UK market. It aims to build the world’s biggest online collection of tastes and flavours. The scientific research into the UK’s lunchtime eating habits was commissioned by GLORIOUS! and led by Dr David Lewis with scientists at Mindlab. Participants were able to only correctly identify 35% of ingredients and most did not detect flavour swaps – 93% were unable to discern beef from Chinese pork, 92% couldn’t tell ham from tuna, 82% could not detect Quorn from chicken, while 78% could not distinguish pork from chicken. Researchers found that, on average, 79% of people were unable to detect when basic flavours had been swapped, this rose to 88% when people ate whilst distracted, increasing to 93% for people eating under time pressure. The interactive flavour map – www.gloriousfoods.co.uk/greatflavourmap – a ‘Tripadvisor for taste’ allows the public to pin flavours ‘from around the globe or around the corner’ such as meals, recipes, or natural produce.

Dr David Lewis said: “The abundance of great flavours and the range of food experiences have never been more plentiful in the UK, nor more diverse, yet our findings suggest consumers are lazy when it comes to tasting and appreciating their food. “I doubt there’s ever been such a rich tapestry of food and flavour combinations at our disposal, yet we’re not savouring what we eat, which is not just a shame but a genuine waste of taste. “Our lunchtime habits in particular show that workers consume food as a means to refuelling the body and most never, or rarely, taste what they’re eating.

“The GLORIOUS! Flavour Map campaign is helping to reawaken taste buds, encouraging consumers to take time out to savour their food and inspire new taste and flavour combinations. “There’s so much fine produce, ingredients and meals available – from budget to blow-out – that food should be an adventure, yet most consumers are getting lost in the basics of taste exploration.” The GLORIOUS! product line includes a range of fresh, high quality soups, stews and pasta sauces all developed within its A-Z of Global Flavours ethos.